Still catching up on all the days we've been out ... currently in Nice and its a gorgeous day. Anyway talking about Paris.
Today we have a free day in Paris. We also had to try out public transport as our bus driver was given the day off. Contiki gave us train tickets into Paris and back out again so this was all good.
We jumped on the bus at about 8am in the morning bound for Paris, the bus ride was short and soon enough we were at the train station trying to figure out which train to take. Luckily there were only two ways to go, either away from Paris or towards Paris so it wasn't that hard to pick the right train.
Once in Paris we headed for Notre Dame. It had taken about an hour to get into town and then about 3/4 hr to walk to Notre Dame, so by now it was 9.30. We walked into Notre Dame as it was free to look around. It was amazing to look around and view inside a famous building. It was truely amazing... I know I'm saying that alot, but things truely are.
We spent around about 3/4 hr looking around the cathedral, then the decided to go up to the top. This cost us about 14 Euro. But the views of the city were great. Row remembers that there were about 422 stairs or around about that. They were very small and wound around a column, it was also raining and the stairs were made of stone so they were slippery.
After taking lots of photos, we climbed down and got lunch. Instead of taking public transport we decided to walk to where Napolean is buried. This took a bit of navigation, which I had worked out. Except after walking part of the way there, Row told me that the place I was going to was not where Napolean was buried, so then I got us very lost and a lovely French couple who spoke english stopped and helped us. So finally on our way in the right direction, then it absolutely poured with rain. Now I mean bucketed down, we got drenched. But we decided we could either stop and wait for it to stop, or continue as we were already wet. So we did just that.
Finally we got there, and luckily were wearing clothes that dried out pretty quickly, well except my shoes, Row was wearing jandels so he was alright. The good thing about the weather was that there were no queues. Went and had a look at the tomb. Aparently Napolean II was very full of himself and to look at his tomb you either look down from the second storey or look up from the ground floor.
Rowan wanted to go and have a look in the Museum for world war I and II. I didn't really care much for this part, so i watched a few videos and had a look around. Row says it wasn't worth going in. The NZ ones are far better (Waiuru).
By this time we had dried out, which was good except that it had started raining again. We brought an umbrella, which was a blessing. We wondered down the Champs-Elysees, which is the place to shop. We stopped in at a supermarket and got some food for lunch the next day. We also got a bottle of gin and wine.
We were then going to walk back to the Place de la Concorde to take photos, but it was too wet. So we decided to find the nearest train station and train back to the camp site. By now it was 5.30pm. We were going to go to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, but decided that when we come back, we'll spend a day wondering around, and give it the time it deserves.
The closest train station was next to the Arc de Triomphe so we took some photos and then jumped on the next train. It was easy to find our way back, except our tickets didn't work on the bus, so we ignored the fact (as they were suppose to work) and got on the bus.
Back at camp it was still raining... but we did get back in time for dinner which was good. After dinner it was down to the bar (taking our own drinks) for a brew and then back to the tent to pack our packs and get ready for the drive tomorrow.
It was definitely fun walking around Paris, finding our own way around, but the night tour the other day definitely gave us a good idea of where things were and made it easier.
All in all, we could definitely have spent a week here in Paris.
Hope everyone is doing well, and working hard. We're both thinking of you. Lots of love
R&M
Monday, August 27, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Contiki Day 2 - Paris
Funny thing happened this morning... I woke up and we were in Paris!! Wow how cool is that. Niether Row or I were on breakfast duty, so it was off for a shower and dressed for brekkie. Damn good brekkie too. Everyone cleaned up and we got on the bus bound for the Cheateau de Versailles...
The funny thing was before we actually left camp a French tour group´s bus had got a flat battery so we tried to help them out... silly french were watching movies in the bus all night...
Anyway off to Versailles, it took about an hour from Paris, wow it was large and so was the queue to get in. Row and I waited in the queue for 1.5 hours, others decided to go in the exit and got in within minutes... I kinda wish I had too, but that´s life. We didn´t really get enough time inside the palace, but we got around all the rooms, it was only the last couple of rooms that we had to rush through to ensure we got back to the bus in time. The ceiling paintings were amazing, although the wall paintings weren´t as good as we´ve seen in England in my opinion, but that could be because I can follow the English Royalty, but not the French... I´m still really glad I went in.
Back on the bus at 3.30pm, heading back into Paris to the Effil Tower. Didn´t have to wait long, but we went up the stairs, not the lift. You could only walk up to the 2nd level viewing platform (about 600+ stairs)... Amazing views. We then paid to go up to the very top. It was a long way up, but the views were so amazing. I´m so pleased we went right to the top, you´ll be able to see pictures when we post them, we can´t do that from this cafe unfortunately. We took lots of photos and then came back down the lift to the 2nd viewing platform and then took the stairs down to the bottom which didn´t take half as long as going up. We brought an ice cream (Mr Whippy) at the bottom and then got on the bus to go to dinner.
We got changed in the Louvre carpark and walked up to dinner. Dinner was really nice, had some wine, Row had the duck and I had beef for dinner. After dinner we were picked up for a caberet show. Interesting, some of the girls did some of the dances topless, not that they had much to look at, but the tapeeze artist was amazing. Overall really glad we went.
Got back to camp about 1am, it was a great day in Paris, right now we´re both really glad we did this tour. Paris is amazing, well except for the queues.
The funny thing was before we actually left camp a French tour group´s bus had got a flat battery so we tried to help them out... silly french were watching movies in the bus all night...
Anyway off to Versailles, it took about an hour from Paris, wow it was large and so was the queue to get in. Row and I waited in the queue for 1.5 hours, others decided to go in the exit and got in within minutes... I kinda wish I had too, but that´s life. We didn´t really get enough time inside the palace, but we got around all the rooms, it was only the last couple of rooms that we had to rush through to ensure we got back to the bus in time. The ceiling paintings were amazing, although the wall paintings weren´t as good as we´ve seen in England in my opinion, but that could be because I can follow the English Royalty, but not the French... I´m still really glad I went in.
Back on the bus at 3.30pm, heading back into Paris to the Effil Tower. Didn´t have to wait long, but we went up the stairs, not the lift. You could only walk up to the 2nd level viewing platform (about 600+ stairs)... Amazing views. We then paid to go up to the very top. It was a long way up, but the views were so amazing. I´m so pleased we went right to the top, you´ll be able to see pictures when we post them, we can´t do that from this cafe unfortunately. We took lots of photos and then came back down the lift to the 2nd viewing platform and then took the stairs down to the bottom which didn´t take half as long as going up. We brought an ice cream (Mr Whippy) at the bottom and then got on the bus to go to dinner.
We got changed in the Louvre carpark and walked up to dinner. Dinner was really nice, had some wine, Row had the duck and I had beef for dinner. After dinner we were picked up for a caberet show. Interesting, some of the girls did some of the dances topless, not that they had much to look at, but the tapeeze artist was amazing. Overall really glad we went.
Got back to camp about 1am, it was a great day in Paris, right now we´re both really glad we did this tour. Paris is amazing, well except for the queues.
Contiki Day 1 - London to Paris
Finally after 6 days on the road I get to update the blog... read on
5am start this morning had to meet the rest of the tour at 6am for a 6.45am leaving time. It was hard getting up so early, but didn´t really sleep that much anyway.
We packed up and went down stairs checked out of the backpackers (cos it certainly wasn´t a hotel) and checked into Contiki. We actually didn´t get away till late, and we had a ferry to catch and rush hour traffic to get through. We have three contiki people on our bus, Renee (the tour manager), Chris (the driver) and Jelly (the cook).
The start of the trip was on a motorway to Dover. Where we would catch the ferry to Calis France. Row and I weren´t sitting together because we ended up being the last couple of people on the bus. But that was ok, we got to meet a couple of other people on the tour.
A couple of hours later we got to Dover and after going trough Customs, we boarded the ferry. We had lunch which included Beer, Vodka, Sandwich and a pastry. We did get some photos of the white cliffs of Dover. There are more of the white cliffs than I thought.
Row bought a bottle of Bowmore´s Whiskey, which is distilled on the same Island as Laphoaig (his favourite whiskey). Next stop FRANCE!!!
Got off the boat and started our journey to Paris. After a couple of hours on the bus we stopped at a service station to pee and get some food. We just brought a coke as we had already eaten. It was interesting trying to understand them. When buying the coke, we just looked at the amount and gave them the money, cos we couldn´t understand a word of what they were saying. The bathroom was another interesting aspect of France. No toliet seat. I figure I´ll get strong legs.
After the stop, we continued onto Paris. The countryside is very flat and at the moment the fields are either full of veges or have just been cut for what I imagine is hay or something similar. Although you notice your not in Kiwiland cos the street signs are not in english and the houses are different.
We made it to camp early afternoon, we were actually shown how to put up a tent. Honestly wouldn´t take a brain surgeon, but then after looking at some of the tents afterwards, you´d think so.
Before dinner we were introduced to snails. Yes they brought snails for each of us to try and also red bubbly wine. The wine was sweet and very nice, the snails well I managed to eat one. They taste like mussells, which i don´t like, but at least I can say I´ve had one.
After dinner we cleaned up and those on duty did the dishes and then we went into Paris for a night tour of the sights. Wasn´t really night as it was still light, but hey its all part of it.
The tour gave us a general idea of where things are, Effil Tower, Notre Dame, Napolean´s tomb, Museums, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe etc. The Arc de Triomphe is where 12 avenues join and there are NO rules on the round-a-bout. Well I think you have to give way to those getting onto the round about, but its madness really.
By the time we finished the tour it was 10pm, some people went to the Bar, but i was too tired. There is a whole nother day in Paris tomorrow...
5am start this morning had to meet the rest of the tour at 6am for a 6.45am leaving time. It was hard getting up so early, but didn´t really sleep that much anyway.
We packed up and went down stairs checked out of the backpackers (cos it certainly wasn´t a hotel) and checked into Contiki. We actually didn´t get away till late, and we had a ferry to catch and rush hour traffic to get through. We have three contiki people on our bus, Renee (the tour manager), Chris (the driver) and Jelly (the cook).
The start of the trip was on a motorway to Dover. Where we would catch the ferry to Calis France. Row and I weren´t sitting together because we ended up being the last couple of people on the bus. But that was ok, we got to meet a couple of other people on the tour.
A couple of hours later we got to Dover and after going trough Customs, we boarded the ferry. We had lunch which included Beer, Vodka, Sandwich and a pastry. We did get some photos of the white cliffs of Dover. There are more of the white cliffs than I thought.
Row bought a bottle of Bowmore´s Whiskey, which is distilled on the same Island as Laphoaig (his favourite whiskey). Next stop FRANCE!!!
Got off the boat and started our journey to Paris. After a couple of hours on the bus we stopped at a service station to pee and get some food. We just brought a coke as we had already eaten. It was interesting trying to understand them. When buying the coke, we just looked at the amount and gave them the money, cos we couldn´t understand a word of what they were saying. The bathroom was another interesting aspect of France. No toliet seat. I figure I´ll get strong legs.
After the stop, we continued onto Paris. The countryside is very flat and at the moment the fields are either full of veges or have just been cut for what I imagine is hay or something similar. Although you notice your not in Kiwiland cos the street signs are not in english and the houses are different.
We made it to camp early afternoon, we were actually shown how to put up a tent. Honestly wouldn´t take a brain surgeon, but then after looking at some of the tents afterwards, you´d think so.
Before dinner we were introduced to snails. Yes they brought snails for each of us to try and also red bubbly wine. The wine was sweet and very nice, the snails well I managed to eat one. They taste like mussells, which i don´t like, but at least I can say I´ve had one.
After dinner we cleaned up and those on duty did the dishes and then we went into Paris for a night tour of the sights. Wasn´t really night as it was still light, but hey its all part of it.
The tour gave us a general idea of where things are, Effil Tower, Notre Dame, Napolean´s tomb, Museums, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe etc. The Arc de Triomphe is where 12 avenues join and there are NO rules on the round-a-bout. Well I think you have to give way to those getting onto the round about, but its madness really.
By the time we finished the tour it was 10pm, some people went to the Bar, but i was too tired. There is a whole nother day in Paris tomorrow...
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Last Day in London
Well our time in London is coming to an end. We're staying at the royal national hotel, hotel ha laugh at that, its just a backpackers really. Still it will be our last night in a bed, the next 46 days will be spent in a tent... camping here we come...
We're not sure what the internet status is while we are on the road, so updates maybe day between new entries... but hey its worth the wait.
Madeleine dropped us into London after going out to brekkie this morning. We then went looking for the Royal Air Force Churcg which we finally found. We even found some of the crests of the RNZAF. Then onto Trafalgar Sq took some photos and came back to check in....
Now just waiting for the pre tour meeting before heading off to bed... got a long day starting early in the morning... but we are both looking forward to it.
Hope everyone is well, thinking of you all, having to go to work.
Lots of love R&M
We're not sure what the internet status is while we are on the road, so updates maybe day between new entries... but hey its worth the wait.
Madeleine dropped us into London after going out to brekkie this morning. We then went looking for the Royal Air Force Churcg which we finally found. We even found some of the crests of the RNZAF. Then onto Trafalgar Sq took some photos and came back to check in....
Now just waiting for the pre tour meeting before heading off to bed... got a long day starting early in the morning... but we are both looking forward to it.
Hope everyone is well, thinking of you all, having to go to work.
Lots of love R&M
Saturday, August 18, 2007
St Albans
We slept in today, didn't bother getting up till 9 as we didn't have far to travel today....
We headed out to St Albans, the sight of an ancient Roman City... the third largest in England. Not alot of it remains today, just the ruins of a theatre, and a few houses. The whole area has been dug over by Archiologists, and they've found quite abit of stuff, which is mostly housed in a museum near by. there was some quite interesting stuff, and it was interesting to see how they figure out what people did by the way their bones wore out. The other big thing was the floor of a large house, which was complete with Roman central heating.... basically a room with a fire in it, slightly lower level than the rooms to be heated, with tunnels going under the floor, and into vents going up the room pillers ( in the corner of the room) that then vented into the loft area of the roof.... the idea being that the hot air would heat the stone of the floors, then into the loft so as to reduce the amount of heat wasted... quite clever these romans....
From here it was onto St Albans Catherdral.... another massive stone building dating from ages ago (1st century).... but in this one you can easily see where alterations and repairs have been made.... one minute its mostly builders fill (broken up stone) with only the corners and occasionally a level line of bricks, to sections that are made of stone delibitely made for the job. On the inside this was again noticable in the archs, some where smooth arches in the Norman style, and some meet in a point in the old english style...
In St Albans itself is the "ye olde fighting cock" the "oldest" pub in england. Back in the day it was a meeting point for cock fighting, (hence the name) and even had a round arena room. We went in for a look, and its now setup as a dinner and beer type pub, but the interior is very cool... but not somewhere for taller people, the beams where only about 6ft high.... so even i had to duck to get under them....
From here we headed into the town of St Albans. It was market day which was quite cool, lots of stalls set up in the middle of the street, so we picked up some olives for me and some rasberrys for megan to snack on.... :D
And that was about the day... now where getting the boring things like washing sorted before we hit the road with contiki....
take it easy
R&M
We headed out to St Albans, the sight of an ancient Roman City... the third largest in England. Not alot of it remains today, just the ruins of a theatre, and a few houses. The whole area has been dug over by Archiologists, and they've found quite abit of stuff, which is mostly housed in a museum near by. there was some quite interesting stuff, and it was interesting to see how they figure out what people did by the way their bones wore out. The other big thing was the floor of a large house, which was complete with Roman central heating.... basically a room with a fire in it, slightly lower level than the rooms to be heated, with tunnels going under the floor, and into vents going up the room pillers ( in the corner of the room) that then vented into the loft area of the roof.... the idea being that the hot air would heat the stone of the floors, then into the loft so as to reduce the amount of heat wasted... quite clever these romans....
From here it was onto St Albans Catherdral.... another massive stone building dating from ages ago (1st century).... but in this one you can easily see where alterations and repairs have been made.... one minute its mostly builders fill (broken up stone) with only the corners and occasionally a level line of bricks, to sections that are made of stone delibitely made for the job. On the inside this was again noticable in the archs, some where smooth arches in the Norman style, and some meet in a point in the old english style...
In St Albans itself is the "ye olde fighting cock" the "oldest" pub in england. Back in the day it was a meeting point for cock fighting, (hence the name) and even had a round arena room. We went in for a look, and its now setup as a dinner and beer type pub, but the interior is very cool... but not somewhere for taller people, the beams where only about 6ft high.... so even i had to duck to get under them....
From here we headed into the town of St Albans. It was market day which was quite cool, lots of stalls set up in the middle of the street, so we picked up some olives for me and some rasberrys for megan to snack on.... :D
And that was about the day... now where getting the boring things like washing sorted before we hit the road with contiki....
take it easy
R&M
Friday, August 17, 2007
Leeds Castle - Kent England
Well Day what ever we're up too on our holiday started out with an early rise (7.45am ha) to ensure we got on the road at a decent time (just after the main rush hour about 9.30ish). Row and I rang Ian & June and Barb and got answer phones on both accounts it was quite funny.
What was funnier sort of, was we were literally just walking out the door when the phone rang and it was Ian and June. So Row got to speak to his parents for a while... But get this, Ian put the phone to Orion's (the dog) ear and Orion hung up on him, it was so funny. Probably not for Rowan as now I keep telling him that the dog has disowned him. Hopefully that isn't the case when we get home :)
Madeleine and Michael joined us today and we drove out to Leeds Castle in Kent. It actually took longer to drive to Stonehenge which is closer in distance. So we had a coffee before walking around the Castle grounds. They were so lovely. I want a garden that big, I know I said that in my last blog, but now I want a garden like Leeds Castle, with rivers and moats they are so cool.
The walk around the garden and through the duckery (Rowan was chomping at the bit to get his hands on a shotgun, but alas there were none in sight) and then around the waterways. It was very pleasant and relaxing. We got some awesome photos of the Castle from a distance. (have a look at http://picasaweb.google.com/JamoAndMegs ) We then wondered through an old Mill, which was very run down, in fact it had no roof, and no waterwheel, but again nice views out over the moat to the lawn gardens below.
Over the bridge across the moat, which I think I heard someone say that it use to be a draw bridge which would make sense, and into the Castle. This was anther splendid example of a Castle that truely looks like a Castle, and this one even had a moat. We wondered through the rooms of the Castle and were allowed to take pictures, I took some, but I'm getting use to not being allowed too. We brought the Guide book so I knew I had all the major art works etc explained. One spiral staircase was made from a single tree trunk, it must have been a huge tree.
Throughout the walk through the Castle there were many spectacular views out the windows over the moat and to the gardens below. Also the Castle, which had for several hundred years been owned by private families and not Royality, had been rennovated several times. One of the most recent was between 1920 and 1936. Included in this rennovation was central heating, which has been very cleverly hidden by iron grates in the floor, you wouldn't know it wasn't suppose to be there.
The last owner Lady Olive Baillie gifted the Castle into the Leeds Castle Foundation and it has since been restored to some of its former glory and opened to the public. By restored to former glory, I mean the foundation returned some of the rooms to what they might have been like in the 17th Century, which gives the Castle a more authenic air.
The grounds also have a maze, a falconry, Aviary, Vineyard (which is located on the site it was said to have been at in 1066) which produces wine for the cafe and to sell, and extensive gardens. Not to mention the cafes and Leeds Castle shops for nic nacs.
One Museum, a dog collar museum wasn't at all what I thought. There were a few old collars, some I would never ever have put on Orion, but then they say they were like that to save the dog from the pigs. Even so I still wouldn't have put it on him. Some of them must have been extremely heavy.
The only disappointing part of the day, was that the shop didn't have a shot or spirit glass for us to buy. Now our collection is missing one, but oh well, you get that.
We drove back, hopeing to avoid rush hour traffic, which we only caught the first part of and had fish and chips for dinner. Tonight will likely be an early night. Quite tired after all this sightseeing.
R&M
What was funnier sort of, was we were literally just walking out the door when the phone rang and it was Ian and June. So Row got to speak to his parents for a while... But get this, Ian put the phone to Orion's (the dog) ear and Orion hung up on him, it was so funny. Probably not for Rowan as now I keep telling him that the dog has disowned him. Hopefully that isn't the case when we get home :)
Madeleine and Michael joined us today and we drove out to Leeds Castle in Kent. It actually took longer to drive to Stonehenge which is closer in distance. So we had a coffee before walking around the Castle grounds. They were so lovely. I want a garden that big, I know I said that in my last blog, but now I want a garden like Leeds Castle, with rivers and moats they are so cool.
The walk around the garden and through the duckery (Rowan was chomping at the bit to get his hands on a shotgun, but alas there were none in sight) and then around the waterways. It was very pleasant and relaxing. We got some awesome photos of the Castle from a distance. (have a look at http://picasaweb.google.com/JamoAndMegs ) We then wondered through an old Mill, which was very run down, in fact it had no roof, and no waterwheel, but again nice views out over the moat to the lawn gardens below.
Over the bridge across the moat, which I think I heard someone say that it use to be a draw bridge which would make sense, and into the Castle. This was anther splendid example of a Castle that truely looks like a Castle, and this one even had a moat. We wondered through the rooms of the Castle and were allowed to take pictures, I took some, but I'm getting use to not being allowed too. We brought the Guide book so I knew I had all the major art works etc explained. One spiral staircase was made from a single tree trunk, it must have been a huge tree.
Throughout the walk through the Castle there were many spectacular views out the windows over the moat and to the gardens below. Also the Castle, which had for several hundred years been owned by private families and not Royality, had been rennovated several times. One of the most recent was between 1920 and 1936. Included in this rennovation was central heating, which has been very cleverly hidden by iron grates in the floor, you wouldn't know it wasn't suppose to be there.
The last owner Lady Olive Baillie gifted the Castle into the Leeds Castle Foundation and it has since been restored to some of its former glory and opened to the public. By restored to former glory, I mean the foundation returned some of the rooms to what they might have been like in the 17th Century, which gives the Castle a more authenic air.
The grounds also have a maze, a falconry, Aviary, Vineyard (which is located on the site it was said to have been at in 1066) which produces wine for the cafe and to sell, and extensive gardens. Not to mention the cafes and Leeds Castle shops for nic nacs.
One Museum, a dog collar museum wasn't at all what I thought. There were a few old collars, some I would never ever have put on Orion, but then they say they were like that to save the dog from the pigs. Even so I still wouldn't have put it on him. Some of them must have been extremely heavy.
The only disappointing part of the day, was that the shop didn't have a shot or spirit glass for us to buy. Now our collection is missing one, but oh well, you get that.
We drove back, hopeing to avoid rush hour traffic, which we only caught the first part of and had fish and chips for dinner. Tonight will likely be an early night. Quite tired after all this sightseeing.
R&M
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral
Today it was down to stonehenge, then over to Salisbury to check out the old village and Salisbury Cathedral.
Getting out to Stonehenge was abit of a drive, thankfully Madeleine took us out, so navigating and driving wasn't a problem for us, took around and 1.5-2 hours to get out there. When we left, it was a beautiful still day, but by the time we got to stonehenge the wind had gotten up, and the stones are quite exposed....
It was amazing to look over the stones, which they think have been there since about 3500BC.... or though a "Henge" (something hanging from something else) has been there much longer, the first ones where made from wood.... You can't walk amoung the stones now, which is a shame as that was something I wanted to do (Rowan here today) but years of other other people taking samples of the rock with hammers and what not has resulted in the building of a roped off path, around 20M from the stones to keep people away from them.... a shame that the actions of others have ruined it for the rest of us..... but a stuning sight all the same, something that makes you realise how little time each of us is here for....
After the stones, it was down to the town of Salisbury for lunch and to look over the Salisbury Cathedral. Salisbury itself (well the part we saw) is an old town, with a cannel going through the middle of the town, with nice old brick buildings either side. We had lunch at a local hot bread shop, managed to get seats inside, which was lucky as it rained during lunch.
After that it was down to Salisbury Cathedral, notable for having the highest Spire in England. Another thing that was noticable about this Cathedral was that it was mostly unchanged in design since when it was first built. In all the other cathedrals and buildings we've seen so far, various kings and queens have added bits if there own, normally in the modern (for the time) style, but Salisbruy Cathedral was one style, pretty much, all the way through. The catherdral itself is massive... and seems even more so, i think, because the are no other large buildings near by. Lots of Church cannons are buried in here, some going back to the 1100's.
the other major thing here is the "Magna Carta" thats kept here, one of 4 original calf hide copys, and the best surviving copy written in 1215 (apparantly it was lost in a filing stuff up, so no one had it out in the light for quite some time). The "carta" itself represents the foundation of democracy (or though the king (King John) that signed it went back on his signature a couple of years after signing it... caused a spot of civil war....)
After all this it was time for a quick coffee then back on the road, hoping to beat rush hour traffic, which we managed pretty well.... and back to Madeleine and Micheals place (a really cool little Brick Bungalo)....
and thats it.... wow
R&M
Getting out to Stonehenge was abit of a drive, thankfully Madeleine took us out, so navigating and driving wasn't a problem for us, took around and 1.5-2 hours to get out there. When we left, it was a beautiful still day, but by the time we got to stonehenge the wind had gotten up, and the stones are quite exposed....
It was amazing to look over the stones, which they think have been there since about 3500BC.... or though a "Henge" (something hanging from something else) has been there much longer, the first ones where made from wood.... You can't walk amoung the stones now, which is a shame as that was something I wanted to do (Rowan here today) but years of other other people taking samples of the rock with hammers and what not has resulted in the building of a roped off path, around 20M from the stones to keep people away from them.... a shame that the actions of others have ruined it for the rest of us..... but a stuning sight all the same, something that makes you realise how little time each of us is here for....
After the stones, it was down to the town of Salisbury for lunch and to look over the Salisbury Cathedral. Salisbury itself (well the part we saw) is an old town, with a cannel going through the middle of the town, with nice old brick buildings either side. We had lunch at a local hot bread shop, managed to get seats inside, which was lucky as it rained during lunch.
After that it was down to Salisbury Cathedral, notable for having the highest Spire in England. Another thing that was noticable about this Cathedral was that it was mostly unchanged in design since when it was first built. In all the other cathedrals and buildings we've seen so far, various kings and queens have added bits if there own, normally in the modern (for the time) style, but Salisbruy Cathedral was one style, pretty much, all the way through. The catherdral itself is massive... and seems even more so, i think, because the are no other large buildings near by. Lots of Church cannons are buried in here, some going back to the 1100's.
the other major thing here is the "Magna Carta" thats kept here, one of 4 original calf hide copys, and the best surviving copy written in 1215 (apparantly it was lost in a filing stuff up, so no one had it out in the light for quite some time). The "carta" itself represents the foundation of democracy (or though the king (King John) that signed it went back on his signature a couple of years after signing it... caused a spot of civil war....)
After all this it was time for a quick coffee then back on the road, hoping to beat rush hour traffic, which we managed pretty well.... and back to Madeleine and Micheals place (a really cool little Brick Bungalo)....
and thats it.... wow
R&M
Winsor
Today after getting up rather late, Madeleine took us to Winsor Castle.
We wondered around the town of Winsor for a while before heading up to the Castle. Winsor is pretty much as I expected, a small town based around the tourist trade, but also has kept alot of its heritage. Well from what I could make out anyway.
We walked across the Thames River onto the Eaton side and took some pictures of the Castle and stopped in and had a coffee at a shop on the river. It was very serene, sitting there next to the River, looking up at the Castle. Ian will know exactly what I'm talking about as I remember him trying to describe the way he felt when he and June finally made it to a place in France that they had been wanting to go too for a long time. I imagine the feeling was the same, finally here I was in front of what I thought was a real Castle (finally one that looked like a Castle :) ) all the way from New Zealand, I was in a place I had been only dreaming of and now was reality. It was a very emotional moment.
Anyway once past that ... we headed off up the road, back over the Thames and off to the Castle. It was amazing walking around, its been on this site for about 800 years. They have replaced the moat with gardens, which are simple, but very nice all the same. We went into the State rooms, which weren't as flamboyant as the rooms in Buckingham Palace, but still very stunning. One part had been destroyed in a fire in 1992, but now has been restored to what it might have been like when Charles I ruled. All round the Castle you could see the Royal initials of past Kings and Queens. Although Buckingham was the main residence, I could see more of the Royals in this Castle than in the Palace.
We then moved onto St George's Chapel, which pretty much holds the Royals that aren't in Westminester Abbey, and the more recent ones. Henry VIII, George VI and the Queen Mother just to name a few (plus I can't remember the others and can't be bothered getting up to get the guide book). While the Chapel doesn't have the grandeur of St Paul's Cathedral or Westminester Abbey, it is still an impressive sight.
One thing that caught me was this little alcove of finely carved wood placed in the wall to the left of the high alter where Catherine of Aragorn (Henry VIII 1st wife) would sit to hear mass away from the commoners. As I stood there I felt humbled again, by the people who have walked where I was walking. It was rather emotional (maybe I was just tired again). Also Rowan noticed in the Knights/Order of the Garter which have seats just in front to the right and left of the high alter the Kiwi and ice pick helmet (helm) of Sir Edmond Hiliary (all the current living knights have their helms displayed here). He is the only Kiwi in the order, and now that the NZ honour system has moved away will be the last Kiwi in this order. Mind you he is probably the first as well.
After moving through the chapel, we went outside and I got a picture with the guard. He never smiled, which I suppose is to be expected. We brought a couple of things from the town (one piece of silver from the silversmith that worked for the Queen Mother), and then had lunch. Madeleine picked us up after that and we went home.
We took Michael and Madeleine out to dinner that night, we even risked another English pub, although this one was very nice. A very pleasant evening to finish off a very pleasant day.
R&M
We wondered around the town of Winsor for a while before heading up to the Castle. Winsor is pretty much as I expected, a small town based around the tourist trade, but also has kept alot of its heritage. Well from what I could make out anyway.
We walked across the Thames River onto the Eaton side and took some pictures of the Castle and stopped in and had a coffee at a shop on the river. It was very serene, sitting there next to the River, looking up at the Castle. Ian will know exactly what I'm talking about as I remember him trying to describe the way he felt when he and June finally made it to a place in France that they had been wanting to go too for a long time. I imagine the feeling was the same, finally here I was in front of what I thought was a real Castle (finally one that looked like a Castle :) ) all the way from New Zealand, I was in a place I had been only dreaming of and now was reality. It was a very emotional moment.
Anyway once past that ... we headed off up the road, back over the Thames and off to the Castle. It was amazing walking around, its been on this site for about 800 years. They have replaced the moat with gardens, which are simple, but very nice all the same. We went into the State rooms, which weren't as flamboyant as the rooms in Buckingham Palace, but still very stunning. One part had been destroyed in a fire in 1992, but now has been restored to what it might have been like when Charles I ruled. All round the Castle you could see the Royal initials of past Kings and Queens. Although Buckingham was the main residence, I could see more of the Royals in this Castle than in the Palace.
We then moved onto St George's Chapel, which pretty much holds the Royals that aren't in Westminester Abbey, and the more recent ones. Henry VIII, George VI and the Queen Mother just to name a few (plus I can't remember the others and can't be bothered getting up to get the guide book). While the Chapel doesn't have the grandeur of St Paul's Cathedral or Westminester Abbey, it is still an impressive sight.
One thing that caught me was this little alcove of finely carved wood placed in the wall to the left of the high alter where Catherine of Aragorn (Henry VIII 1st wife) would sit to hear mass away from the commoners. As I stood there I felt humbled again, by the people who have walked where I was walking. It was rather emotional (maybe I was just tired again). Also Rowan noticed in the Knights/Order of the Garter which have seats just in front to the right and left of the high alter the Kiwi and ice pick helmet (helm) of Sir Edmond Hiliary (all the current living knights have their helms displayed here). He is the only Kiwi in the order, and now that the NZ honour system has moved away will be the last Kiwi in this order. Mind you he is probably the first as well.
After moving through the chapel, we went outside and I got a picture with the guard. He never smiled, which I suppose is to be expected. We brought a couple of things from the town (one piece of silver from the silversmith that worked for the Queen Mother), and then had lunch. Madeleine picked us up after that and we went home.
We took Michael and Madeleine out to dinner that night, we even risked another English pub, although this one was very nice. A very pleasant evening to finish off a very pleasant day.
R&M
London Day 3
Day three in London sees the last day in London. We packed up all our things very messily just to that they would fit and put them in the baggage room and went out to explore. Today was the missed Westminester Abbey and Buckingham Palace and we thought we would try the subway.
Wondered down to the Bayswater underground staton, we had already worked out which station we needed to get off at, got a day pass (was only £6 each) and trained off to the Abbey. Didn't take very long and it wasn't rush hour so the train wasn't very packed, but still there were lots of people on it.
Made it to the Abbey with no hassle. Wondered around the Abbey for a couple of hours. This was quite amazing here lay tombs of Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses and all kinds of people that influenced Britain King Henry VII, Elizabeth I, Mary, Charles and many others (except of course Henry VIII who rebelled against the Church and is buried at St George's Chapel at Winsor. (Can you tell I'm learning lots about the royals). What was funny at the Abbey was we ran into the Ozzie couple that were on the Hong Kong Tour with us. Small world even over here.
After walking around the Abbey for a while we then walked up to Buckingham Palace to try and catch the changing of the guards. We you know what happens when you rush, something goes wrong... it sort of it, they decided not to change the guards that day, so we waited around for 30 mins for nothing. But oh well, that happens. Then we had to wait in line for about 30 mins to get tickets to go into Buckingham Palace, and we decided to go to the Mews (Stables) as well.
The carriages are quite spectacular, not exactly what I thought, but still it would be cool to ride in them. Got to look at a couple of horses wow, but hey now I can say I've seen Royal Horses. The stabes were amazing, each horse is named by the Queen and had two name tags, one that hangs in his/her stable and the other goes with it where ever it goes. Useless bit of knowledge for you.
We finally got into Buckingham Palace, and I wasn't sure what to expect. The rooms were amazing, drawing rooms for africa and each a different colour, lots of armour. Each King or Queen had remodelled something to put their stamp on it (sometimes because of fires or damage to a particular area). Its incredible to think how many Kings and Queens have walked the same halls I walked. Not that the royals intefere with our lives but it is still humbling. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos inside, but once we got out into the gardens we could. And the gardens seem to go for miles around. If only my garden could be that big (hmm maybe Rowan wouldn't like that, he'd have to mow the lawn, and he'd probably make me)
We looked at the time after Buckingham Palace and knew we wanted to get to the train station rather early for Madeleine to pick us up so that we weren't in rush hour traffic. so we caught the train back to the hotel picked up our gear and trained to Ruslip Gardens, where we'd meet Madeleine (whom Row had not seen since he was a young teenager). As it was it was easy to recognise her, she was waiting just outside the train station for us. It was nice to see a warm and friendly face.
We got back to their place, had a couple of much needed drinks and a nice home cooked meal. Went to bed reasonably early, we were still trying to reset our body clocks to London time.
The next day awaited, but it was after a nice long sleep.
R&M
Wondered down to the Bayswater underground staton, we had already worked out which station we needed to get off at, got a day pass (was only £6 each) and trained off to the Abbey. Didn't take very long and it wasn't rush hour so the train wasn't very packed, but still there were lots of people on it.
Made it to the Abbey with no hassle. Wondered around the Abbey for a couple of hours. This was quite amazing here lay tombs of Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses and all kinds of people that influenced Britain King Henry VII, Elizabeth I, Mary, Charles and many others (except of course Henry VIII who rebelled against the Church and is buried at St George's Chapel at Winsor. (Can you tell I'm learning lots about the royals). What was funny at the Abbey was we ran into the Ozzie couple that were on the Hong Kong Tour with us. Small world even over here.
After walking around the Abbey for a while we then walked up to Buckingham Palace to try and catch the changing of the guards. We you know what happens when you rush, something goes wrong... it sort of it, they decided not to change the guards that day, so we waited around for 30 mins for nothing. But oh well, that happens. Then we had to wait in line for about 30 mins to get tickets to go into Buckingham Palace, and we decided to go to the Mews (Stables) as well.
The carriages are quite spectacular, not exactly what I thought, but still it would be cool to ride in them. Got to look at a couple of horses wow, but hey now I can say I've seen Royal Horses. The stabes were amazing, each horse is named by the Queen and had two name tags, one that hangs in his/her stable and the other goes with it where ever it goes. Useless bit of knowledge for you.
We finally got into Buckingham Palace, and I wasn't sure what to expect. The rooms were amazing, drawing rooms for africa and each a different colour, lots of armour. Each King or Queen had remodelled something to put their stamp on it (sometimes because of fires or damage to a particular area). Its incredible to think how many Kings and Queens have walked the same halls I walked. Not that the royals intefere with our lives but it is still humbling. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos inside, but once we got out into the gardens we could. And the gardens seem to go for miles around. If only my garden could be that big (hmm maybe Rowan wouldn't like that, he'd have to mow the lawn, and he'd probably make me)
We looked at the time after Buckingham Palace and knew we wanted to get to the train station rather early for Madeleine to pick us up so that we weren't in rush hour traffic. so we caught the train back to the hotel picked up our gear and trained to Ruslip Gardens, where we'd meet Madeleine (whom Row had not seen since he was a young teenager). As it was it was easy to recognise her, she was waiting just outside the train station for us. It was nice to see a warm and friendly face.
We got back to their place, had a couple of much needed drinks and a nice home cooked meal. Went to bed reasonably early, we were still trying to reset our body clocks to London time.
The next day awaited, but it was after a nice long sleep.
R&M
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
London Day 2
Day two: got up relatively early, about 7am, did the usuals and went down to breakfast, surprisingly there was a really nice breakfast on offer for free. Lots of cereals, toast, fruit and bread rolls, and no kiwi butter :( oh well. Had a hearty breakfast and set off on a 20 min walk to find the hop on hop off bus tour place.
Actually went in the right direction today, must have been jet lag yesterday. Walked in Hyde Park, which was a nice change to the city life, heaps of people out jogging or walking, a few dogs around too. Caught the bus and listened to the commentator talk about London. Got our first glimpses of London from the bus. Wow the streets weren't too narrow, but all the buildings were three storey old brick place... Most of them also had stone work as well, it was quite a sight compared to what we were use too back home.
Went past Trafalgar Sq, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, London Eye (not that great) over the Thames a couple of times, even on the famous London Bridge. Don't really know why its famous its just a bridge and the bridge next to it is far more famous, the tower bridge. We got off at St Pauls Cathedral. Its amazing, to think that a cathedral has been on this site for over 500 years is just unbelievable, well not really, but you know what I mean. The stone work on the outside was incredible. We weren't allowed to take photos on the inside so we brought a guide book to remember. But we did go up to the whispering galleries to take photos and then up again (in total 434 steps) and got the most amazing view of London. It was very breath taking. We even found a memerial for those British Soldiers that fought and died in New Zealand during the Maori wars. It was interesting to see as we don't have anything like this at home. No one cares about the Brits that died.
After spending a couple of hours walking around the Cathedral, up to the top and down into the crypt we got back on the bus and went down to the Tower of London. This was actually a big medievil fortress, much bigger than we realised. It houses the Crown Jewels which we saw, an old amoury with lots of old guns, pikes and amour and also a room for spanish weapons captured during the Spanish Armada.
We stopped and had lunch here, but it was about 2pm by this time... We walked around the grounds for a while and then headed down to the prier to catch a boat down to Westminster to see the Abbey and Big Ben.
The cruise up the Thames was uneventful, but we did get a good view of the Tower bridge and the London bridge. We had to stop at the London Eye because the boat we caught didn't go as far as the Abbey. So we got out and walked. We walked around Big Ben, realising that we couldn't go in, so we had a look at the Houses of Parliament which are quite detailed, but decided we didn't want to go in there (had enough of politians at home). So we walked across the road to Westminster Abbey, but unfortantely it was 3.45 and the last admission had already gone in. So we thought we would walk to Buckingham Palace. Finally found our way there, didn't take very long, took some photos and then thought we'll walk home...
hmmm... now that wasn't the brightest move in the book. Took us until 6pm to get back to the hotel, we walked the length and breath of Hyde Park, which is probably about 2.5 km long and about 1 km in breath, but you have to take into account we went in the wrong direction a few times and detoured to check out places of interest.
In the end a long day well worth the time and blisters. Only bad thing, decided to go out for a English Pub meal... it was crap... crap beer, crap food, bit of a shame really, but we at least learnt where not to go to eat.
In bed asleep at 9.30pm tired, but really still couldn't believe we're finally here...
R & M
Actually went in the right direction today, must have been jet lag yesterday. Walked in Hyde Park, which was a nice change to the city life, heaps of people out jogging or walking, a few dogs around too. Caught the bus and listened to the commentator talk about London. Got our first glimpses of London from the bus. Wow the streets weren't too narrow, but all the buildings were three storey old brick place... Most of them also had stone work as well, it was quite a sight compared to what we were use too back home.
Went past Trafalgar Sq, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, London Eye (not that great) over the Thames a couple of times, even on the famous London Bridge. Don't really know why its famous its just a bridge and the bridge next to it is far more famous, the tower bridge. We got off at St Pauls Cathedral. Its amazing, to think that a cathedral has been on this site for over 500 years is just unbelievable, well not really, but you know what I mean. The stone work on the outside was incredible. We weren't allowed to take photos on the inside so we brought a guide book to remember. But we did go up to the whispering galleries to take photos and then up again (in total 434 steps) and got the most amazing view of London. It was very breath taking. We even found a memerial for those British Soldiers that fought and died in New Zealand during the Maori wars. It was interesting to see as we don't have anything like this at home. No one cares about the Brits that died.
After spending a couple of hours walking around the Cathedral, up to the top and down into the crypt we got back on the bus and went down to the Tower of London. This was actually a big medievil fortress, much bigger than we realised. It houses the Crown Jewels which we saw, an old amoury with lots of old guns, pikes and amour and also a room for spanish weapons captured during the Spanish Armada.
We stopped and had lunch here, but it was about 2pm by this time... We walked around the grounds for a while and then headed down to the prier to catch a boat down to Westminster to see the Abbey and Big Ben.
The cruise up the Thames was uneventful, but we did get a good view of the Tower bridge and the London bridge. We had to stop at the London Eye because the boat we caught didn't go as far as the Abbey. So we got out and walked. We walked around Big Ben, realising that we couldn't go in, so we had a look at the Houses of Parliament which are quite detailed, but decided we didn't want to go in there (had enough of politians at home). So we walked across the road to Westminster Abbey, but unfortantely it was 3.45 and the last admission had already gone in. So we thought we would walk to Buckingham Palace. Finally found our way there, didn't take very long, took some photos and then thought we'll walk home...
hmmm... now that wasn't the brightest move in the book. Took us until 6pm to get back to the hotel, we walked the length and breath of Hyde Park, which is probably about 2.5 km long and about 1 km in breath, but you have to take into account we went in the wrong direction a few times and detoured to check out places of interest.
In the end a long day well worth the time and blisters. Only bad thing, decided to go out for a English Pub meal... it was crap... crap beer, crap food, bit of a shame really, but we at least learnt where not to go to eat.
In bed asleep at 9.30pm tired, but really still couldn't believe we're finally here...
R & M
London Day 1
Flying again... hmmm flying through the day ... another hmmm... not the most fun we've ever had as some of you can imagine. It was damn hard work. Although in saying that it could have been worse.
Ended up finally at our hotel (basically a backpackers) about 3 hours later. That was ok, but what wasn't was walking into our room and smelling the amount of smoke... it was awlful, went back and got another room and it was tiny, but we much prefered that to the smoke... I've decided that there is a common theme here... Ended up going out for a small walk in completely the wrong direction thanks to me, but we did go to a burger place that is very similar to Burger Fuel, and about the same price, but the burgers were much better. So that was all good. 8.30pm in bed asleep, it was a long day.
Ended up finally at our hotel (basically a backpackers) about 3 hours later. That was ok, but what wasn't was walking into our room and smelling the amount of smoke... it was awlful, went back and got another room and it was tiny, but we much prefered that to the smoke... I've decided that there is a common theme here... Ended up going out for a small walk in completely the wrong direction thanks to me, but we did go to a burger place that is very similar to Burger Fuel, and about the same price, but the burgers were much better. So that was all good. 8.30pm in bed asleep, it was a long day.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Hong Kong
Well its 7am Hong Kong time, so about 11am NZT and Row and I are sitting in the United airport lounge sipping rum and gin.. what a life... although we did have to get up at 4.30am to do this.
Day 1: Arrived in Hong Kong at 6.45am (Hong Kong is 4 hours behind NZ but the same day). Felt really tired, there was a bit of turbulence which kept waking me up, and not only that the excitment of finally going on our trip. The flight only took 10 1/2 hours, even though we thought it would be 13 hours... so that was all good. Managed to get ourselves lost looking for the bus that was transfering us to the hotel, thought we were going on the tour that morning. Thank goodness we weren't, I needed a sleep. Finally got to the Hotel, had to wait for the room, this gave us time to have a decent breakfast. (You can never get away from NZ... they had NZ butter at breakfast, although it was nice to know) The first room we got was two single beds, smelt like a smoker had just left, so we asked for another room, which was nicer.
First impressions of the city: Lots and lots and lots (to infinity) of tall apartment buildings. I thought there would be more cultural buildings. Obviously the number of people in the city has an impact on this, but still I could never have imagined this. The entire city is high rise buildings. 6000+ people per sq km, and $40,000 per sq foot for an apartment. Compare this to Australia which has 3 people per sq km. She didn't know NZ.
Slept for a couple of hours and then made our way to the tour pick up point. We toured around Hong Kong Island. We were very lucky we didn't fly in on the 9th, there was a typhon.... So we are in the tail end of the horrible weather. Not that nice, but its still really hot... was 27 C at 7.30am. The tour was great... We didn't go to the top of Victoria Peak (the highest point in HK) because we wouldn't have been able to see anything, so we stopped at a look out point, which still had a good view over the city. We also visited a fishing village which quite literally lived on the water. Mum and Dad, it was interesting looking at the boats from the point of view of bus, they weren't that big, but when you know what you can fit into a bus you have more appreciation for how big a space really is. Also saw this really big floating restaurant, and nothing in NZ compares, it was huge, basically the size of a small mall back home.
After the fishing village it was off to a Jewellry Manufacturer. Oh my GOSH!!!! if only I had lots of money to spend. I found an absolutely gorgeous ruby and diamond ring. It was only over $10,000 HKD (the exchange rate is about 6 HKD to 1 NZD). I had to leave it there, very depressing :) but then I had to think about our trip ahead no point in having a beautiful ring if I can't do anything else on our honeymoon. We ended up buying a very beautiful dancing couple which is hard to describe, you'll see it when we get back...
Then it was off to Stanley Market... Well apart from the rain which was bucketing down, the market wasn't much. We brought a table runner which will remind us of HK without taking up too much space, but apart from that, things weren't that cheap. Pretty much just stalls of bits and pieces and although there were many stalls, every 3rd shop sold the same thing.
Then back to Kowloon, under the Aberdeen and No Excuse Tunnels. A woman at the airport had suggested watching the laser show on every saturday night, and because its the 10 yr anniverisary of China taking back HK they had fireworks as well. We joined another Kiwi couple (from Blenheim) and a Aussie couple (from Port MacQuarie (Shaz and Stu will appreciate the irony of that place) for dinner at a chinese restaurant and watched the show. It was really nice having dinner with other people and hearing about their travels. Wow they had been to so many places (they weren't travelling together), it was interesting listening to their stories and in some cases we could comment but in most we couldn't. But they were wonderful people.
The laser show was a bit of a let down, basically because of the weather we couldn't see anything. But the fireworks, WOW double WOW, they were amazing. I've been in the US for two 4th of July's and they didn't come close (sorry Mary & Bryon). the finale was incredible. The whole show was a dance of a fireworks, it was truly amazing to watch, everything was co-ordinated, even the colours. By this time my eye lids were about ready to close (it was about 1am NZT), so we walked back to the hotel, about a km. Somehow we lost the Ozzie couple, don't know what happened there. We got everything packed and ready to go, because the wake up call was for 4.30am and went to bed.
Even though the weather was crap it was still a nice day. Although both Row and I agree, it was nice to stop over here, we wouldn't want to spend more than another day here. Definitely glad it wasn't a week.
Now we are just waiting for the boarding call for London, another thing I've extremely glad we didn't do, and that's fly straight through to London, I definitely had enough of the plane trip over here, to get back on it for another 12 hours... argh!!! I might have gone crazy... hold on Row says I already am. ahahaha.
Anyway the gin glass is almost empty so I'll leave it here. Love to you all. Row and Megs xxxx
Day 1: Arrived in Hong Kong at 6.45am (Hong Kong is 4 hours behind NZ but the same day). Felt really tired, there was a bit of turbulence which kept waking me up, and not only that the excitment of finally going on our trip. The flight only took 10 1/2 hours, even though we thought it would be 13 hours... so that was all good. Managed to get ourselves lost looking for the bus that was transfering us to the hotel, thought we were going on the tour that morning. Thank goodness we weren't, I needed a sleep. Finally got to the Hotel, had to wait for the room, this gave us time to have a decent breakfast. (You can never get away from NZ... they had NZ butter at breakfast, although it was nice to know) The first room we got was two single beds, smelt like a smoker had just left, so we asked for another room, which was nicer.
First impressions of the city: Lots and lots and lots (to infinity) of tall apartment buildings. I thought there would be more cultural buildings. Obviously the number of people in the city has an impact on this, but still I could never have imagined this. The entire city is high rise buildings. 6000+ people per sq km, and $40,000 per sq foot for an apartment. Compare this to Australia which has 3 people per sq km. She didn't know NZ.
Slept for a couple of hours and then made our way to the tour pick up point. We toured around Hong Kong Island. We were very lucky we didn't fly in on the 9th, there was a typhon.... So we are in the tail end of the horrible weather. Not that nice, but its still really hot... was 27 C at 7.30am. The tour was great... We didn't go to the top of Victoria Peak (the highest point in HK) because we wouldn't have been able to see anything, so we stopped at a look out point, which still had a good view over the city. We also visited a fishing village which quite literally lived on the water. Mum and Dad, it was interesting looking at the boats from the point of view of bus, they weren't that big, but when you know what you can fit into a bus you have more appreciation for how big a space really is. Also saw this really big floating restaurant, and nothing in NZ compares, it was huge, basically the size of a small mall back home.
After the fishing village it was off to a Jewellry Manufacturer. Oh my GOSH!!!! if only I had lots of money to spend. I found an absolutely gorgeous ruby and diamond ring. It was only over $10,000 HKD (the exchange rate is about 6 HKD to 1 NZD). I had to leave it there, very depressing :) but then I had to think about our trip ahead no point in having a beautiful ring if I can't do anything else on our honeymoon. We ended up buying a very beautiful dancing couple which is hard to describe, you'll see it when we get back...
Then it was off to Stanley Market... Well apart from the rain which was bucketing down, the market wasn't much. We brought a table runner which will remind us of HK without taking up too much space, but apart from that, things weren't that cheap. Pretty much just stalls of bits and pieces and although there were many stalls, every 3rd shop sold the same thing.
Then back to Kowloon, under the Aberdeen and No Excuse Tunnels. A woman at the airport had suggested watching the laser show on every saturday night, and because its the 10 yr anniverisary of China taking back HK they had fireworks as well. We joined another Kiwi couple (from Blenheim) and a Aussie couple (from Port MacQuarie (Shaz and Stu will appreciate the irony of that place) for dinner at a chinese restaurant and watched the show. It was really nice having dinner with other people and hearing about their travels. Wow they had been to so many places (they weren't travelling together), it was interesting listening to their stories and in some cases we could comment but in most we couldn't. But they were wonderful people.
The laser show was a bit of a let down, basically because of the weather we couldn't see anything. But the fireworks, WOW double WOW, they were amazing. I've been in the US for two 4th of July's and they didn't come close (sorry Mary & Bryon). the finale was incredible. The whole show was a dance of a fireworks, it was truly amazing to watch, everything was co-ordinated, even the colours. By this time my eye lids were about ready to close (it was about 1am NZT), so we walked back to the hotel, about a km. Somehow we lost the Ozzie couple, don't know what happened there. We got everything packed and ready to go, because the wake up call was for 4.30am and went to bed.
Even though the weather was crap it was still a nice day. Although both Row and I agree, it was nice to stop over here, we wouldn't want to spend more than another day here. Definitely glad it wasn't a week.
Now we are just waiting for the boarding call for London, another thing I've extremely glad we didn't do, and that's fly straight through to London, I definitely had enough of the plane trip over here, to get back on it for another 12 hours... argh!!! I might have gone crazy... hold on Row says I already am. ahahaha.
Anyway the gin glass is almost empty so I'll leave it here. Love to you all. Row and Megs xxxx
Monday, August 6, 2007
5 Days to go
Auckland NZ still, Rowan has 3 days of work left and I have 4. The countdown has really begun now...
We drove down to New Plymouth on the weekend to drop Orion off at Grannie & Grandad's. It was very sad leaving him behind. We picked up the tickets etc, its finally starting to feel real... but it will be more so when we get on that Plane.
Trying not to stress at work, but that never not happens... I'll be glad when Thursday comes and Friday is a day for finishing to pack and cleaning the house... Then Hong Kong here we come..
MJ
We drove down to New Plymouth on the weekend to drop Orion off at Grannie & Grandad's. It was very sad leaving him behind. We picked up the tickets etc, its finally starting to feel real... but it will be more so when we get on that Plane.
Trying not to stress at work, but that never not happens... I'll be glad when Thursday comes and Friday is a day for finishing to pack and cleaning the house... Then Hong Kong here we come..
MJ
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